Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica is back with season two this week. Start your weekend early, and get glued to TV screen every Friday at 10pm on Sci-Fi (Space in Canada). NBC will be rerunning some of the season 1 highlights, and new episodes as well. If you’re not familiar with the show, here’s a brief story:

Battlestar Galactica is an old 70 miniseries that had a makeover in 2002 with a little TV movie. The reviews were spectacular, the people loved the new look and new arc, and so the creative team came back with a full season (actually only 14 episodes), and are now coming back with more. In the miniseries the cylons (robots, banished by people into space) come back with a vengeance. They take over communications and military and literally nuke the planet, and every ship in orbit. One old military battlestar survives – partly because it lacks the latest techno gizmos, and partly because its commander is more trusting of his officers than some computers or robots. OK, that establishes contrasting attitudes towards technology.
Also, the miniseries has set up a new political figure in the world of humans – an ex high-school teacher who survives the nuclear attack and has taken office (by default). She’s got resistance, she’s new at this, but someone’s gotta be at the helm. There’s also a kooky scientist Balthar who may or may not be imagining a cylon next to him. It could all be just in his head.

Finally, there are cylons – look and feel like humans, they have evolved into thinking, believing, and religious beings who have their views, their philosophies, and they do have a plan. The ship has multiple secondary characters who shape up a great set of contrasts on this last human outpost that has lost its homeland and is on the run from its own creations – cylons. THe humans are looking for a mysterious planet that they should inherit. The cylons are looking to eradicate the human race altogether. Less than fifty thousand survivors of a once great race, and their enemies look just like them.

Get the miniseries and season one on DVD, or just take the plunge and see the world of Battlestar Galactica for yourself – this Friday at 10pm, on Sci-fi.